Monday, November 21, 2016

Careers With Minnesota Companies:Target

Target is one of the largest employers in Minnesota: there are currently 347,000 people who work for Target. There are 1,934 Target stores. Revenue for Target in 2014 was more than $72 billion.

It began, technically, in 1902, when George Dayton founded a "dry goods" store (not food but other items people need in their daily lives) on Nicollet Avenue in downtown Minneapolis. Dayton's Department Store, which transitioned to Marshall Fields and branched out into Target, has endured for over 114 years, and has experienced a number of innovations along the way:

1920 Due to a labor strike, goods were not coming into the store. To keep his customers happy, George Dayton had supplies sent to the store by airplane.
1956 Daytons adds branch stores in the suburbs of the Twin Cities
1962 The first Target store opens in Roseville, Minnesota
1966 Target opens in Denver
1967 Daytons acquires B Dalton, Bookseller
1968 Target Stores open in St Louis, Dallas, Houston, and California
1983 California now has a Target store
1988 Target is the first to use bar codes on all items, and a scanner, instead of individually tagged items
1989 Target opens in Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia, North and South Carolina
1990 The first Target Greatland opens with 50% more store space
1993 Target opens in Chicago
1995 The first Supertarget opens, which offers groceries as well as "dry goods."

By 2001, there are Target stores in 47 of the United States.

Did you know?

Governor Mark Dayton is the great-grandson of George Dayton, founder of the Daytons and Target stores.

CVS Pharmacy has purchased Target Pharmacies and Minute Clinics as of January 2015.

The big red cement balls in front of the stores are called bollards, and they're there to prevent cars driving into the store.

The original Dayton's building was built on a lot where a church burned down. The property cost $165,000

If you bought stock in Target in 1987 for $1,000, it would now be worth $96,148.

A Target employee suggested a shopping cart that would work for disabled people. Target worked with the company that built these carts.

If you look at an orange-stickered reduced item, it shows the percentage of markdown in the upper right corner. If the price ends in 4, there will be no more markdowns of that item. If it ends in 6 or 8, it will be marked down further.

If you are interested in employment with Target, here are some positions they may be hiring: